At Valluvan Tamil Academy, our main objective is to make Tamil learning a fun exercise for children and their families. Parents play a major role in the children's Tamil education. We recommend parents to follow these guidelines to reap the maximum benefit from the Tamil classes.

Classroom guidelines

Attendance constitutes a good portion for grading. Parents are encouraged to take every effort not to miss classes, considering there are only 30-32 classes or less in a school year.

Feel free to ask the teacher regarding the lessons your child missed during that time.

If a child misses a class, then homework can be submitted during the next class together with their next weeks homework.

Completing the missed weeks homework will help your child catch up with the rest of the class.

Teachers encourage class participation from students. This includes answering, discussing, asking questions etc, in Tamil. Please continue talking to your children in Tamil at home to encourage children in speaking in Tamil at the class.

Homework guidelines

Homework accounts for a major portion in grading your child. Practice makes perfect.

Encourage children to do the homework every week, guide/help them in finishing the homework and check their work and sign it.

Make them say the letter or word when they are writing or reading the homework. Keep an eye on them.

10 - 15 minutes homework or 1-2 page(s) per day (depends on how fast they are writing). Rushing them at the end of the week will be an overload for them and make them lose interest.

10 - 15 minutes reading every day (Ask them to read the same homework lesson from lesson book)

If your child struggles with her/his homework or in writing, feel free to discuss with your childs teacher via email or in person.

Please help your children with pronunciation and handwriting while doing their homework.

Time to time, talk to your childs teacher before/after the class or via email regarding your childs development. The teachers can give you useful tips.

Exam guidelines

Exams are conducted at least twice a year. Parents will be notified via email and in person before the exams.

We request parents to treat the exams seriously. Taking these exams is mandatory. If your child is unable to take the test on that specific date, talk to your childs teacher to take the test on a prior/later date. These exams are the assessment tools for grading your child.

Besides the term exams, your childs teacher might have review tests or assessments or quizzes to assess the children. Encourage your child to prepare for the test and help them review the work before the test.

Teachers spend lot of time to prepare for these tests and they try to keep the children motivated by providing them a little appreciation in the form of stickers, compliments and small gifts. So, emphasize the importance of these tests to your children.

Guidelines at home (if applicable)

Encourage talking in Tamil at home if possible. If the parents can converse with children in Tamil, that will help.

Talk to children about Tamil language, culture, festivals & heritage.

Practice short quizzes with children to increase their confidence in recognizing and pronouncing the alphabets. Test them by pointing the letters and ask for immediate answers, make them write more.

Keep them in touch with Tamil during school breaks. Kids are not only fast learners but they also tend to forget things faster with lack of practice.

Have the children watch few suitable Tamil programs on TV or Internet and encourage them to discuss about it. Ask them to read the names or titles on the screens where applicable.